Towel Day

Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author. The commemoration was first held 25 May 2001, two weeks after Adams' death on 11 May.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Origin

The importance of the towel was introduced in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy original radio series in 1978. The follow-up book explained the importance of towels in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy universe in Chapter 3, using much of the same wording as the original radio series:

The original article that began Towel Day was posted by a D. Clyde Williamson,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a contributor at "System Toolbox", a short-lived System Administration website affiliated with "Binary Freedom", an open source forum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> To promote the group's proposed memorial event, System Toolbox's site director, Chris Campbell, created the towelday.org website. The idea was shared by Slashdot in a post that reminded people to bring their towels on May 25. Towel Day was an immediate success among fans and many people sent in pictures of themselves with their towels.<ref>Archive.org presentation of TowelDay.org's picture archive on 24 January 2002</ref> Campbell ran the Towel Day website for several years before transferring it. It is now maintained by an anonymous group of Douglas Adams' fans.

Recognition

A star projector adorned with a towel on Towel Day. Planetarium Laupheim.

Several news sources around the world have mentioned Towel Day, including the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten<ref>Ikke glem håndkleet! Template:Webarchive, Aftenposten, 25 May 2007</ref> and the television news show NRK Nyheter,<ref>Den internasjonale håndkledagen, NRK Nyheter, 23 May 2007</ref> and National Public Radio, Los Angeles.<ref>Galaxy Travelers Have Critical Tool on Display, National Public Radio, Los Angeles, 25 May 2007</ref>

In May 2010, an online petition was created asking Google to recognize Towel Day with either a Google Doodle or by returning search results in the Vogon language for a day. As of 10 September 2014, the petition had received 5,373 signatures; however, the petition website is now defunct.Template:Citation needed On 11 March 2013, Google published an official Doodle in recognition of what would have been Douglas Adams’ 61st birthday.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2010

In Canada, Volt, a French/English television show, created a skit in which Towel Day was explained and featured.<ref>TFO. Volt. Road Trip Skit for Towel Day (French/English). Produced by David Baeta. Aired 19 May 2010 Template:Webarchive</ref>

In Ecuador, Radio City, a BBC affiliated radio station, interviewed one of the organizers of Towel Day in Toronto to introduce their listeners to Towel Day.<ref>Radio City. Avacado. Produced by Cristina Moreano. Aired 25 May 2010Template:Dead link</ref> The interview was in Spanish and English.

2011

In the United Kingdom, Planet Rock aired an "Alternative Thought Of The Day" by David Haddock about Towel Day<ref>Planet Rock. Alternative Thought Of The Day by David Haddock. Aired 25 May 2011</ref> and Siren FM broadcast "Dean Wilkinson & the Importance of International Towel Day".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2012

In January 2012, The Huffington Post listed Towel Day as one of ten cult literary traditions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2013

In recognition of Towel Day, the Norwegian public transportation company Kolumbus gave away a limited number of special towels to customers. Each towel contained an RFID chip that allows a free ride on their buses and boats.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Washington, D.C., the Chevy Chase branch of the District of Columbia Public Library offered prizes for those who wore a towel to the library on Towel Day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2015

On Towel Day 2015, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sent a "Towel Day greeting" and read aloud a sample from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy from the International Space Station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2016

Towel Day was celebrated by Briton Tim Peake on the International Space Station.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>

As Towel Day 2016 fell during the RIPE 72 meeting, the RIPE NCC distributed a beach towel printed with an IPv6 subnet chart (from their training materials).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2019

In the year 2019, Towel Day was celebrated by Don't Panic Labs in Nebraska, U.S., by organizing a donation drive called the "Towel Day Drive" where people were asked to donate new or extremely gently used towels to the "People's City Mission". Many people also donated money to buy towels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Geek Pride Day, celebrated on the same date
• The Glorious 25th Of May from the works of Sir Terry Pratchett.

External links

• Towel Day - Celebrating the life and work of Douglas Adams
• Towel Day on h2g2
• Fan proposing the idea of making Towel Day an annual event on h2g2
• Television Skit for Towel Day (French/English)
• Interview by Radio City Ecuador for Towel Day 2010 (Spanish/English)Template:Dead link